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Case Studies

First Utility – Magic Weekend

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Events

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Experiential

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First Utility

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Sports

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01 September 2015

Background

First Utility are the UK’s largest independent energy company offering an alternative to the ‘Big Six’. During the second year of their sponsorship of the Super League, Hatch was tasked with creating a standout initiative around Magic Weekend, aimed at improving brand recall across mainstream media and engaging with Rugby League and general sport fans.

The Challenge

Increase awareness of First Utility’s title sponsorship of the Super League amongst Rugby League supporters and a wider sporting audience.

Using a creative stunt, create shareable video content to be spread via social channels and also appeal to the mainstream media in the lead up to the 2015 Magic Weekend in Newcastle

Link back to the sponsorship and First Utility’s brand identity of ‘challengers’ to the ‘Big Six’

Maintain relevance to the sport and the event being held in Newcastle, which is historically a footballing city

The Solution

For the stunt, Hatch created a unique, and eye-catching cross-sport challenge. Set in the shadows of the iconic Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Hatch pitted the modern-day stars of the Super League against Newcastle United legends. The two teams would alternate between rugby and footballs, taking aim at five giant, branded inflatable targets placed across the River Tyne.

NUFC legends Beardsley, Lee and Beresford faced off against Jon Wilkin, Marc Sneyd and Jack Owens from the First Utility Super League. Having the activity pre-event allowed us to take advantage of the media interest in the lead up to Magic Weekend. Having modern and ex-sporting stars involved, increased the draw and enabled us to satisfy the media coverage objectives.

The sporting challenge element supported First Utility’s brand identity and ensured that the content was engaging to a sporting audience, prompting a vast number of shares and video views.

Outputs

The video created 100% positive sentiment across 31 media mentions, reaching 18 million, including Mirror and The Mail Online. Sky Sports News, BBC and ITV were in attendance on the day of the video, running fully-branded interviews, helping to build the momentum before the official video launch date.

The video itself attracted over 350k views across First Utility’s social media channels and prompted an increase in visits to the First Utility Super League home page of 32%.

The total reach of the video, including media coverage, online sharing and views was 19 million.